The present invention relates generally to articulating doors for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a checkstrap assembly operative to positively locate a passenger door of a motor vehicle between a fully open position and a closed position with an infinite range of positively located positions in between.
In a conventional manner, passenger doors of motor vehicles are pivotally mounted to the vehicle body for movement between a fully open and a closed position. Many such vehicle doors are designed to cooperate with a checkstrap which is operative for positively locating the vehicle door relative to the vehicle body. For example, the checkstrap is adapted to positively locate the vehicle door relative to the vehicle body at an intermediate position between a fully open and a closed position. In situations where a space laterally adjacent to a passenger door prohibits the door from fully opening, opening of the door to the intermediate position reduces incidents of unintentional damage to the door, to an adjacent vehicle, or both. In addition, on a sloped surface, the checkstrap provides a mechanism to hold the door in its open position.
In one common form, prior checkstraps for vehicle doors include a roller mounted to the vehicle door and an arm contoured to cooperate with the roller which is carried by the vehicle body. In this regard, the arm is formed to include one or more camming surfaces. The roller functions as a cam follower. As the door is moved between its fully opened position and its closed position, the arm remains in constant engagement with the roller. When the door is gently opened and closed, the cam surfaces of the arm and the roller cooperatively function to positively define an intermediate position at which the door may be located relative to the vehicle body.
In another known arrangement, a checkstrap arrangement includes a checking mechanism that cooperates with a link member. Such an arrangement is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,991 which is hereby incorporated by reference. While known arrangements have proven commercially acceptable, they are also limited with specific disadvantages, and thereby subject to improvement. In this regard, some known designs include only a limited number of positive positions between the fully open and closed position. In this case the door can be closed, open, or held only at one or two fixed intermediate locations. Therefore, not all possibilities as to open positions are available to the user of the vehicle. Furthermore, not all of the situations mentioned above may be remedied by such a limited number of positively held positions by the checkstrap.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a checkstrap that can create an infinite number of positively held positions between the fully open and closed position of an automobile door.
In order to obtain this object and other objects, the present invention provides a checkstrap assembly for a door of a vehicle which is movable in relation to a frame between an open position and a closed position. The checkstrap assembly includes an arm passing inside a channel. The arm has a first end connected to a roller in association with a wedging device inside the channel. The arm has a second end rotatably mounted on either the door or the frame such that movement of the door causes the arm and the channel to move relative to one another. The wedging device prevents relative movement between the arm and the channel until a sufficient force is applied to the door to overcome the wedging force.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.